Niki (Greek political party)

Democratic Patriotic Movement “Niki” Δημοκρατικό Πατριωτικό Κίνημα “Νίκη”
Abbreviation	NIKI (Victory)
Leader	Dimitris Natsios
Founder	Dimitris Natsios
Founded	17 June 2019 (2019-06-17)
Headquarters	Thessaloniki
Youth wing	NIKI Youth
Ideology	Ultraconservatism National conservatism
Political position	Far-right
Religion	Greek Orthodox Church
Colours	Ochre   Light blue
Hellenic Parliament	10 / 300
European Parliament	1 / 21
Website
nikh.gr
Politics of Greece Political parties Elections

The Democratic Patriotic Movement “Niki" (Template:Lang-el), often shortened to simply Niki (Victory), is a far-right political party in Greece. It was founded by educator Dimitris Natsios in 2019. In the parliamentary elections of June 2023, the party received a percentage of 3.70%, electing 10 deputies to the Hellenic Parliament in which today, it forms the 7th Parliamentary Group.

The party is regarded as nationalist, ultraconservative, and supportive of the Greek Orthodox Church. Its primary ideology is encapsulated in the triptych "Faith - Homeland - Family," a variant of the "Homeland - Religion - Family" (Patris - Thriskeia - Oikogeneia) slogan, a long-standing political identity of Greek nationalists. Most analysts agree that with the emergence of Niki, Greek Solution and the Spartans, the far-right has reappeared on the country's political scene. This marks the first time since 1974 that three distinctly far-right parties are represented in the national parliament.

History

The party was founded by the public education teacher and theologian Dimitris Natsios on 17 June 2019 in Thessaloniki, after the signing of the Prespa Agreement and one month before the 2019 parliamentary elections, in which he did not participate. He emerged in the polls shortly before the May 2023 elections. In the elections of June 2023, it collected 192,154 votes, i.e. 3.7% and entered the Greek Parliament with 10 seats. He gathered the largest percentages in Northern Greece and specifically in Macedonia.

In the European elections of June 2024 it gathered a percentage of 4.42% and elected an MEP, Nikos Anadiotis, to the European Parliament. It formed the 6th Parliamentary Group of Greece in the European Parliament.

The party maintains close ties with the Orthodox Church and a large part of its influence stems from the relations of its members (MPs and non-parliamentarians) with priests, churches and parochial organisations throughout Greece. Special mention has been made of the relations with monastic community of Mount Athos and with specific monks. It is believed that the monasteries of Filotheou and Karakallou support the party. However the Philotheou Monastery and the Karakallos Monastery publicly denied the reports. Archbishop Hieronymos expressed his opposition to the instrumentalization of faith,.

Ideology and positions

Niki has been described as a party that belongs to the far-right with ultra-Orthodox beliefs and have been described as "ultra-religious". It is often described as conservative with faith, homeland and family as its main axes.

The party refers to characteristics of the Greek nation which it promotes such as language, history and tradition, while it places special emphasis on education, criticizing certain content of school books and prejudicing the writing of new ones. It opposes sex education in schools and abortions. The party takes a negative stance on the issue of LGBT adoption and marriage, has spread homophobic and xenophobic discourse and is anti-abortion. It states its opposition to mandatory medical procedures, such as the vaccination during Covid-19 and questioning the safety of these vaccines. The party has endorsed vaccine hesitant views during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In matters of foreign policy, the party completely rejects the Prespa Agreement. It maintains a neutral attitude towards third countries, believing that the Byzantine imperial heritage, the Orthodox unifying character, can feed an international focus of stability and balance in the Balkan Peninsula. It disagrees with Greece's support for Ukraine regarding Russia's invasion, instead preferring neutrality. The party has been referred to as "pro-Russia". Regarding Greece's relations with Turkey the party argues that, since Turkey is acting aggressively, Greece should be answering with force. During the Israel–Hamas war, the party has called for peace between the two sides and for the Greek government to advocate for the protection of Orthodox Christians affected by the conflict.

Party structure

Central bodies

• Omaichmia^a or Homaichmía (Ομαιχμία or ὁμαιχμία) : 28 members of the party who are appointed by the body of "Vouleftirion" to represent and publicly express the views and positions of the party, after having passed background checks regarding their integrity, honesty, patriotism, and religiosity.
• President : elected between the members of the "Omaichmia" and is the head of the party.
• Vouleftirion ^b (Βουλευτήριον) : 7 member executive boby, the main body of the party, which aims to ensure the smooth functioning of the party in accordance with its statutory principles. The first five of its seven members elected by the plenary session. These five select two more as members. "Vouleftirion" has the final say in approving admission of members to the party, in assigning the work of the administration sectors, the local communities, and the general governance of the party. The "Vouleftirion" selects one of its members as the "Organizational Coordinator", who conveys the decisions of the body to the party organs. The members of "Vouleftirion" determine the dismissal or change of members as they are not subject to control by the other organs. Members of the body don’t officially represent the Party, may not stand as candidates in elections of any kind and are not supposed to be remunerated for their work. It is worth noting that according to an article in the newspaper "To Vima", some clerics attribute to him the characterization of the "invisible authority" according to the standards of the Filiki Eteria
• Thematic Groups: The Thematic Group creates policy in specific matters and develop the party’s political positions, which are then proposed for the party. They are responsible for promoting the party's positions in their sector through articles, broadcasts, participation in conferences and contacts with sectoral peer or thematic institutions. Any member of Niki with relevant thematic expertise can freely join the Groups. According to some websites, this structure seems to be following a different strategy from other parties, as it distributes responsibilities to all its members all over Greece and not only in Athens. Niki has today 20 Thematic Groups.

Election results

Hellenic Parliament

Election	Hellenic Parliament					Rank	Government
	Votes	%	±pp	Seats won
May 2023	172,208	2.92%	New	0 / 300	New	6th	Extra-parliamentary
Jun 2023	192,239	3.69%	+0.77	10 / 300	10	7th	Opposition

European Parliament

Election	European Parliament					Rank
	Votes	%	±pp	Seats won
2024	174,574	4.4%	New	1 / 21	1	6th

Notes

^a Omaichmia is an ancient greek word means union for battle, defensive alliance, league.

^b senate